Minimalism Journey: Phase III

At this stage we switched towards monthly goals to try to keep this a new habit, a way of life, not just a thing to do once in a while.

Step 1: Goal

One month to 1/2 our book collection from 4 full shelves (28″ x 14″) with two rows of books each, plus three storage cubes full of kids’ books, to 2 full shelves and 1 kids’ bin.

Step 2: Book Selection

Pairing down books is hard! And so we did it in stages, from easiest to hardest.

Books in bad shape physically (recycled)

Text books we will never use again

Home design kind of books – we now do everything on online forums for ideas

Children’s books that my kids have outgrown

Travel guide books and maps

Older books we don’t love and are not likely to read again, novels, etc.

Books that we like but not on our immediate radar and are easily available at the library

Step 3: Assessing Results

The first 4 items above were relatively easy, 5 started to hurt and 6 and 7 were difficult, especially for my husband.

That said, I was surprised to feel relieved to give away books that “I will read some day” and were just sitting there (and my reading was going nowhere). Instead, I took out two books from the library during this time (on minimalism and happiness); I finished one in 2 days and in the process of reading the second one.

We still have a decent amount of books but this is good progress for us at this stage. Further, we agreed not to acquire non borrowed or e-books from now on, else we will have to take 2 out for every one in.

Ready for Phase IV, our next challenge: Collections: old basketball cards from husband’s childhood and random coin collection from a family member that keeps sending them to us for holidays and birthdays :(.

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About

Working mom of two young kids. This blog is about our journey in search for the perfect balance between living the ‘now’ and maximizing experiences with our growing children, while reaching financial independence in our early 50s.